9 Global Delicacies The U.S. Bans, Shames Or Refuses To Touch

When Culture Shock Is Served on a Plate

From Snake Hearts to Fetal Duck Eggs, Some Are Illegal in the U.S., Others Immoral, and Most Would Make Americans Puke

Ever had lunch stare back at you?

A former colleague of mine once did, right before she swallowed it whole. 

We met up while she was visiting Georgia. But by the time we ended up meeting, she was already overloaded on khachapuri and wine. 

So when a Korean expat I knew invited us to his favorite basement spot in Tbilisi, we said yes. 

Hidden behind a sketchy electronics shop, the place served “sannakji”… live octopus. 

She didn’t ask what it was, just pointed at the menu and ordered like it was another bowl of soup.

One bite in, a tentacle latched onto her lip like it had unfinished business. 

The plate arrived still moving. 

Not metaphorically. 

The octopus tentacles were literally squirming across the ceramic like they were trying to escape their fate. 

She smiled, dipped one in sesame oil, and popped it in her mouth. “Chewy,” she said, mid-battle with a suction cup that latched onto her tongue like it was staging a last stand.

Meanwhile, back in the U.S., we have a panic attack if our sushi isn’t labeled “California roll.”

When I lived in Ukraine, I thought I’d seen it all. Pig ears, fish in gelatin, mayonnaise on pizza.

But then came Spain, France, Bulgaria, parts of Asia. Things got weird fast.

These weren’t meals. They were statements. Superstitions. Dares served sizzling.

Try offering any of them in the U.S. and you’d get banned, boycotted or end up in a viral news meltdown.

Because food isn’t just food. It’s culture, politics and ego on a plate.

Some of the world’s favorite dishes are banned in parts of the U.S. Not because they’re dangerous.

But because they mess with everything Americans think a meal should be.

So here it is.

Nine dishes that get celebrated in one country and shut down in another.

Snake hearts. Fetal duck eggs. Octopus that fights back. Horse tartare that doesn’t run away.

You’ve heard the rumors.

Now meet the menu that makes Americans lose their appetite.

1. Snake Heart Shots: Vietnam’s Boldest Ritual

A fellow traveler I met in Strasbourg, France once told me this story over a cheap lager that tasted suspiciously like wet cardboard.

He’d just gotten back from Hanoi and insisted I watch a video on his phone of him doing a snake heart shot.

The setup: live cobra, quick slice, drop the still-pulsing heart into a shot glass of rice wine, and boom… down the hatch before it stops twitching.

He said it was supposed to enhance virility.

I told him if his goal was impressing women, maybe don’t open with “Want to see a video of me eating a snake’s heart?”

Try that stunt in the U.S. and you’re one Yelp review away from getting the restaurant raided by federal agents and PETA protesters forming a drum circle outside.

Hard to Swallow: In some cultures, food is medicine, ritual, even masculinity on display.

In others, it’s a lawsuit waiting to happen.

2. Live Octopus: The Meal That Fights Back

When I was in Georgia, a Korean expat I knew invited a group of us to try sannakji at his favorite underground spot.

I use “underground” loosely… It was literally a basement with a stove and one flickering lightbulb.

The dish arrived wriggling, suction cups still doing their thing like tiny, pissed-off vacuum cleaners.

A British guy next to me tried to swallow one too fast. It latched onto his tongue like it had unfinished business.

The panic in his eyes said it all. We watched him wrestle it down with a beer and a shot of soju for good measure.

In the U.S., this would be banned faster than you can say “choking hazard” and followed by a headline that reads “Hipster Dies After Eating Angry Appetizer.”

Hard to Swallow: Some meals are meant to be chewed carefully.

Or at least signed off on by a lawyer.

3. Fugu: Japan’s Lethal Delicacy

One of my former TEFL colleagues in Kyiv had told me about the time he splurged on fugu while teaching in Tokyo.

The waiter brought the dish with all the ceremony of a bomb technician.

One wrong slice, and it’s game over… paralysis, respiratory failure, the works.

And yet, people line up to eat it like it’s a Michelin-starred game of Russian roulette.

Try importing that into the U.S. without 25 licenses, 13 signatures, and a hazmat team, and you’ll find yourself on a no-fly list before dessert.

Hard to Swallow: Some people chase danger for the thrill.

Americans prefer their meals with less suspense and more cheese.

4. Horse Meat: Illegal in the U.S., Common Elsewhere

In France, I once walked into a small-town butcher shop to pick up some sausage for my host and walked out with a half kilo of cheval.

It was only later, mid-bite, that he mentioned it was horse.

I paused, swallowed, and said, “Figures. Fastest meal I’ve ever had.”

Back in the U.S., eating horse is the culinary equivalent of kicking a puppy in public.

Horses are for racing, riding, or getting emotional about in movies… not for tartare.

Hard to Swallow: One person’s taboo is another’s Tuesday lunch special.

5. Balut: A Fetal Duck Egg That Divides Cultures

A Ukrainian student of mine once brought back a souvenir from a trip to the Philippines: balut.

She didn’t eat it.

She just wanted to show people their reactions.

The shell cracked open to reveal something between an egg and a baby bird.

Feathers, beak, all of it.

In Manila, it’s a snack. In the U.S., it’s trauma.

Hard to Swallow: Before you gag, remember that every culture has its own version of comfort food.

Yours just happens to be less feathery.

6. Dog Meat: Still Consumed in Pockets of Asia

A fellow expat I met in Thailand once told me he accidentally ate dog at a wedding in rural Vietnam.

He only found out when someone offered him seconds and patted their own stomach while barking.

Let’s just say his appetite went on vacation.

In the U.S., eating dog isn’t just illegal, it’s unthinkable.

Dogs are family.

They sleep in our beds and wear sweaters for Christ’s sake.

Hard to Swallow: Food morality depends on who you’re willing to put on a leash.

7. Shark Fin Soup: Banned for Ethics, Not Flavor

While at a high-end wedding in Spain, I ended up seated next to a wealthy Chinese businessman who casually brought up shark fin soup like it was the gold standard of luxury.

He talked about its symbolism and how it was once the highlight of every major celebration back home.

I sipped my wine and nodded politely, trying not to picture the finless sharks sinking back into the ocean.

All I could think about were the documentaries I’d seen… sharks tossed back into the ocean, finless and dying.

In more than a dozen U.S. states, serving this would not only get you fined but possibly arrested.

Hard to Swallow: Not every delicacy is worth the cost.

Especially when that cost is a shredded ecosystem.

8. Bats: A Post-COVID Taboo With Ancient Roots

In Tbilisi, I met a guy from Indonesia who swore by bat soup. Said his grandmother used to make it every winter when the air got cold and the joints got creaky. “Good for the bones,” he told me, “and keeps evil spirits away.”

Now, whether he was serious or just messing with the American at the table, I’ll never know.

After 2020, try explaining that to a CDC inspector. Bats went from mystical to monstrous real quick.

Hard to Swallow: One pandemic is all it takes to turn ancestral cuisine into a global boogeyman.

9. Insects: Celebrated Abroad, Still Treated Like Cockroaches on Your Plate in the U.S.

In Spain, I tried fried grasshoppers at a Mexican food festival. Crunchy, salty, strangely satisfying. Like pistachios with legs.

But in the U.S.? Bugs still equal panic.

Never mind that they’re packed with protein and better for the planet than half the things in our supermarkets.

The FDA hasn’t exactly rolled out the red carpet for cricket tacos.

Hard to Swallow: Sustainability tastes great, but not if your culture can’t get past the crunch.

Which of These Would You Eat First?

Would you sip a snake heart for the story?

Wrestle a live octopus just to say you did, or would you rather stick with cheeseburgers and pretend none of this exists?

These food taboos aren’t really about danger or disgust. 

They’re about what we’re taught to find acceptable.

What one culture reveres, another bans.

But that’s where it gets interesting.

Though the real question remains is, “Which of these would you try… and which would you run from?”